Pietersite was discovered by Sid Pieters in 1962 while he was prospecting some farmland in Namibia, Africa. After his discovery, he registered the find in the mineral records of Britain. His discovery was published in 1964, and the material was named pietersite. Currently there are only two known sources of pietersite; China and Africa.
This specimen was found in China and it was formed from a mineral very similar to crocidolite, named torendrikite.
The fibrous structure in pietersite has been folded, stressed, even fractured and/or broken apart via the Earth's geologic processes. The fibrous materials have then been reformed and naturally recemented together by quartz.